Happily Ever After
by Adamante
Summary: A dance is coming up! Claire wants to go with Gray, and he wants to go with her too. But will things turn out right? And will they live 'happily ever after' ?


Hey! It's Dia! This is my first oneshot, so I hope it's good! It's ClairexGray. I wrote this for Summer's (SummerxxBabyx3) birthday. Angela (Kiminochi), Jen (SunshineGirlx3), and I all wrote Graire oneshots of Summer's birthday. Jen and Angela wrote two though. I couldn't because I've had things to take care of lately. I hope she likes them though.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon.

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_****_Normal POV_**

"Tomorrow, we will have a dance at the Inn for the Starry Night Festival!" The mayor exclaimed.

Everyone was in the town square listening to the mayor explain the events for tomorrow. Some people cheered and others complained. The girls were in a group on one side and the boys were on the other side.

"Who are you going with Karen?" Ann asked.

"Well, duh! Isn't it obvious?"

Ann had a look of uncertainty on her face. "Don't tell me it's Cliff."

"No! It's Rick!" The girls started to laugh.

"R-rick?! Karen, I would expect better from you!" Ann said in between laughs.

Karen glared at the girls and walked off.

"Okay, okay. Come on guys, let's stop joking around." Ann wiped tears out of her eyes.

Mary decided to speak up. "How about you Ann?"

"W-well, um… I was going to ask Cliff."

"Your face is awfully red Ann! Are you sick?" Elli said, oblivious to Ann's embarrassment.

All the girls except for Ann and Elli started to laugh. Popuri was still laughing even after everyone stopped.

Ann started to get angry. "W-what about you Popuri?!"

"Hey! Don't say anything to me! You already know that Kai's not here!"

The only person who wasn't saying anything was Claire. She was deep in thought about something, and everyone's constant laughing and bickering wasn't helping her at all. So she decided to do something about it.

"Will all of you just _shut up_!?"

Everyone eyes were focused on Claire. Not just that little group, everyone in the square. Then they started to whisper and murmur amongst themselves. You could hear some people say things like, 'what's wrong with her' or 'how rude'. The mayor looked offended because he was still talking when Claire said that.

Mary gave Claire a worried look. "Claire is something wrong?"

"Not really, I was thinking and I couldn't concentrate." She glanced at Ann and Popuri.

"Everyone can go home now. The meeting is over." The mayor said in a dull tone.

Anna and Manna glared at Claire, and told her that she was rude and that she needed to act more like a young lady.

Mary heard them and walked over to Claire. "Don't worry, I bet mother doesn't mean that."

"Yeah."

_**Gray's POV**_

Everyone in town was at the square listening to the mayor talk about the events tomorrow, but I wasn't paying attention to that. I had my eyes on Claire the whole time. She looked like she was thinking about something.

"Gray?"

I jumped at the sound of the voice and turned to see Cliff.

"Y-yeah?"

"What are you looking at?" He asked.

I pulled the brim of my hat down. "N-nothing."

"Yeah, riiiight."

"Hey Rick!"

I looked up to see Karen walking towards our group. She came up and hugged Rick; I think he was embarrassed, or frightened. I can't tell. He just has the weirdest face expressions!

"So, you're coming to the dance, right Gray?" Cliff asked.

"H-huh? Uh, yeah. I guess."

Doctor looked at all of us in disbelief. "I don't see the point of this festival. There should be other kinds of festivals."

"What festivals do you have in mind?" I asked.

"Well," He looked like he was thinking. "I think that there should be a festival when you hunt for herbs, and then, whoever has the most will—" He was cut off.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Karen said.

"It's a great idea! I should tell the mayor about this!" He started to walk towards the mayor. I guess he didn't hear what Karen said.

I looked at Claire's group again. All the girls over there were laughing, except for Ann, Elli, and Claire. Ann looked like she was getting mad; she then said something to Popuri and she replied back.

"Will all of you just _shut up_!?"

Everyone froze and looked at Claire. The mayor looked offended, I don't know why; it's not like she said 'will you shut up mayor' or something like that. She was probably talking about Ann and Popuri.

"I wonder what's up with Claire." Karen said.

Everyone else was whispering and looking at Claire. The mayor suddenly said,

"Everyone can go now. The meeting is over." He wasn't as happy as he usually was. Well, whatever.

Anna and Manna said something to Claire that I couldn't hear. I just wanted to go over there and tell her that whatever they said wasn't true, but Mary beat me to it.

Cliff touched my shoulder. "Come on Gray, let's head home."

"Yeah."

I know Ann and Cliff are going together tomorrow; it's obvious they like each other. Karen's going with Rick. Doctor… well I'm not sure about him, but then again, who _would_ want to go with him? Mary, Popuri, and Claire, I'm not sure about them either. Was _I_ going to go with anyone though?

'_I would love to go with Claire. I wonder if she feels the same way about me.'_

I guess I'll have to see tomorrow.

_**Claire's POV**_

What was the big deal anyway? Just because I said 'shut up', the whole town is against me! I don't get these people sometimes. Especially Anna and Manna, they say I need to act more like a lady? Well they need to stop being such stuck up—you know what, I'm not even gonna finish that.

'_I just need rest. I'll think this over tomorrow.'_

Knowing Manna, she'll spread rumors about me all over town. Sleep soon took over me after that thought ran through my mind.

The next day when I woke up, my mood was significantly better. Today's the day of the dance! I have the perfect dress too! It was a light blue dress that would show all my curves when I put it on. It stopped right above my knees too. My mother gave it to me, so I always treasure it.

"I have to go do my farm work and then go visit Karen so she can do my hair." I said to myself. I put my dress on the bed and ran out of the door.

_**30 minutes later**_

I just finished my farm work and now I was heading to the supermarket.

'_I wonder if Gray will think I'm beautiful.'_

Now I really have to look my best! So I ran faster.

I went in the supermarket and saw Jeff holding his stomach, Sasha was yelling at him, again. Why doesn't she just divorce the guy? It doesn't seem like she loves him. Karen and Sasha always talk about him in a bad way anyway.

"Ah, Claire! You're here!" I looked away from Jeff and Sasha to see Karen walking up to me. She grabbed my hand and started dragging me.

"Everyone's in the back room. Come on!" Karen opened the door and pushed me in.

I saw Popuri sitting in a chair, getting her hair done by Elli, and Ann was getting hers done by Mary. So that left me with Karen.

"Come on Claire honey!" She said, in the worst southern belle accent I ever heard.

"What's with the accent?" I asked.

"All those beauticians from the city sound like that, don't they?"

"Who told you that?"

"Manna."

'_Should've known.'_

"A _few _ofthem sound like that."

She put her hands on her hips. "See? I was right!"

"But—"

"Come on hun!"

So I had to deal with Karen and that southern belle accent of hers for about two hours. She may be annoying sometimes, but she does good work. She curled my hair, not that many curls, just a few. And she also put just the right amount of make up on my face; it would go well with my dress. Everyone else was done too.

We persuaded Mary to wear her hair down, and we made her wear contacts. Elli looked basically the same; she just had makeup on. Karen's hair looked the same, except she had it curled at the bottom. Ann had her same ponytail, but it wasn't braided. And lastly, Popuri curled her hair a little more and draped it all over one shoulder.

"We all look so cute!" Popuri gushed.

"And it's all thanks to me, the beauty queen!" Karen said.

"Yeeaahh, right."

We all started laughing. Karen glared daggers at all of us, but after a while, she started laughing too.

"You're all going to drop dead from jealousy and shock when you see my dress."

Karen's being delusional again. Oh! I need to go get my dress!

"See ya later guys! I have to go get ready!" I said.

"Bye!" They all said in unison.

I ran off to my farm. The dance was gonna start at six, so I need to make sure I have everything ready. I opened the door to my house and ran over to my dress. What I saw wasn't pleasant.

"T-the dress…"

The dress was torn and ripped all over; that was the dress my mother gave me! Then I saw my dog walking around with a blue cloth in its mouth.

"It was you!"

The dog looked at me like I was crazy and tilted its head.

"Grrrr……" I sighed. "No need to get mad; that won't solve anything. I guess I'm not going to the dance."

_**Mary's POV**_

"Where's Claire?"

'_Claire hasn't come yet and it's already 6:00. I need to go see if she's alright.'_

As I walked out the door, I felt someone touch my shoulder. I turned to see that it was Gray.

"What is it Gray?"

"Do you know where Claire is?"

"No, I was just about to look for her. Why do you ask?"

"I …was…… just worried. That's all."

Right at that moment, Karen came running over to us; I guess she was drunk.

"Come on guys," her voice was slurred. "let's have a drinking contest."

Then she dragged the both of us to the bar.

_**Claire's POV**_

I can't believe everyone's there having fun. I could go, but I'd be wearing my dirty overalls. They already think bad of me, so that'll just make it worse!

"I wonder what Gray's doing…" I whispered.

"Well wonder no more!"

"Who was that?"

"It's me!" The Harvest Goddess came out of nowhere and was floating in front of me.

"Aaaahh! Don't do that!"

"I always have to make a grand entrance!"

"Okay, okay. What are you doing here anyway?"

"I'm here to help you!"

"Wha-"

"If you want to go to the dance so badly, I'll fix your dress."

The Goddess snapped her fingers, and then the torn parts of the dress mended back together.

"You fixed it! It looks good as new!"

"Yep. It was a pre-tty simple task."

Now I could go to the dance! I was so excited! I'd get to see Gray now!

"Oh thank you Goddess! How can I repay you?" I asked.

"I'm the _Goddess_ darling; I don't need anything. You should go and be happy."

"Thanks."

"Go! Go!" The Goddess ushered me towards the bathroom. "You need to put on that dress so you can get to the party!" She pushed me into the bathroom and slammed the door.

When I came out of the bathroom, I saw the Goddess's face light up.

"You look so beautiful! If I do say so myself."

"I do?"

"Of course! I know beauty when I see it."

I giggled. "Thanks, Goddess."

She smiled. "I'm going to transport you there."

"What? Why? I can walk there."

"But someone as beautiful as you has to make a grand entrance!"

I sweatdropped. "Y-yeah. But why did you choose to help _me_?"

"Because, you're the only one in this town who knows that I'm real and you believe in me. The others may worship me, but they also think I'm just a myth."

"I didn't know. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. At least I have you and the Harvest Sprites, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Okay Claire! Time to go have some fun!" She waved at me and then snapped her fingers. There was a bright light and then I was inside the Inn.

Everyone looked at me with wide eyes. I don't know if it was because I just teleported here or how beautiful my dress was.

"Claire! You're here!" Mary came running up to me. She had her hair down and she had a dark blue dress that wasn't too revealing.

"Yeah! I guess I am."

"If you hadn't have come, then Karen would still be trying to force us to drink! And how did you do that?" She asked.

"Do what?"

"Pop up out of nowhere like that. There was this bright light and then you were standing there."

"You could say, I had a fairy godmother of sorts."

Mary looked puzzled. "What do you mea-"

"Claire!"

Gray was walking towards me. My heart started racing; why do I always feel like this when he's around?

"Where were you?" He asked in a worried tone.

"I was just a little late. That's all."

Oh, I just want to fall in his arms! He's just so-; wait, what am I saying!?

"Well Claire. I'll just go over and talk to Popuri." Mary said. She walked over to the bar where Popuri was standing.

"You look…" He started.

"Weird. I know. You're not used to me wearing dresses and skirts."

"Well, yeah. But I was about to say that you were beautiful too." He pulled his hat down and turned his head.

'_Did he just say I was beautiful? It's a dream come true!'_

"Well, you look handsome too." I said, keeping my composure.

He pulled his hat down even more! Well, if he could pull it down anymore than he already has. I looked around and saw that everyone was still looking at me. Especially the guys.

Karen was standing with Rick. She had a black dress that stopped right above her knees and it was very revealing. Ann had this green dress that was loose on her figure. I guess she doesn't like tight fitting dresses. Popuri had this big pink dress that made her look like some kind of princess.

Elli had an off white dress that really looked good on her. Mary, Popuri, and Elli were talking to each other, Ann and Cliff were standing next to each other and both of their faces were red, Karen had her head on Rick's shoulder and he had a look of embarrassment and shock on his face, Doctor was sitting at the bar by himself.

And I was standing here with Gray.

"Would you…like…t-to dance?" He asked.

"Of course! I thought you'd never ask!" Maybe I was a little _too_ excited.

We went to middle of the room. I put my hand on his shoulder and he put his hand on my waist. We started dancing to the slow song, and after a while, everyone took our example and started dancing too.

Gray slowly pulled me closer to him, and I snuggled into his chest.

'_My heart's racing! This feels like a dream, but it's real! I can't believe it…'_

"This was a great day." I whispered.

"Really?"

"Yeah. There may have been a few bad times, but this part of the day has made it all worth while."

"Yeah, I think so too."

Being in his arms made me feel safe. I wish I could just re-live this moment forever and ever.

"There's one more thing that could make this day better." I said.

"Oh yeah? What is it?"

"This."

I kissed him gently on the lips.

"Wha-"

I kissed him again, this time more passionately, and he returned it. This was the best day of my life. Earlier today, I was constantly thinking about him like some schoolgirl with a crush, but I never expected to _kiss_ him! Maybe he feels the same way about me too. But it could be one of those 'heat of the moment' things.

We parted. "Claire, I—"

Suddenly, Karen pounced on us and put her arms around our shoulders.

"Hey you two." Uh oh. She's drunk. "You know, the three of us can have some _fun_. You know what I mean?"

I could hear Gray say something like 'not again'.

Then all of a sudden, Rick ran over to us and dragged Karen away. He looked over his shoulder and yelled, "Sorry guys!"

"What is with that girl?" Gray asked.

I giggled. "You know how Karen is."

"Uh, yeah."

I wonder what he was about to say before Karen interrupted.

"What were you about to say Gray?" I asked.

His face turned red. "Well, um…"

Right then, I saw a jolt of pink jump on me.

"P-popuri? What are you-"

"Come on Claire! Let's dance together next!" Same old Popuri. Hyper as always.

"O-okay."

Popuri helped me up and started to drag me away. I gave Gray an apologetic look and waved at him. He looked confused, but he still waved back at me.

That night went perfect for everyone, except for Doctor.

And we all lived happily ever after.

Kidding! We didn't live 'happily ever after'. What do you think this is? A fairy tale?

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_Fin_

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I hope it wasn't too sucky. It might have been cheesy, but don't blame me, okay? I'm not good with oneshots. Sorry Doctor lovers! I just don't like the guy! I hope Summer likes this! Please review!


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